How Fate Brought a Hip-Hop Pioneer and a Activist MC to Madison, Wisconsin

It has seemed since me and Paradise the Architech began this journey of exposing “right wing” liars using the most powerful weapon on the planet, Hip-Hop, the stars have been aligning for us. From being in Oakland, CA the day of the Oscar Grant rebellion, to covering the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, to the almost perfect timing of our Tea Party video, we’ve always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. And once again, by sheer “coincidence”, we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of 70,000 protesters last Friday and Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin.

About 4 months ago, I was contact by the University of Wisconsin-Platteville to be the keynote speaker for their Black History Month celebration called ” Ebony Weekend “. (Of course, we had no idea what was on the horizon that same weekend in Wisconsin, but that’s not all…) A few weeks ago, we had an opportunity to sit down with some very cool people we had met at the PA Progressive Summit. Paradise and I had traveled to DC to do an interview on ” Russia Today ” and afterward we met with Beth Becker, Neal Rauhauser, Alan Rosenblatt and a few others to talk politics.

I always like to solicit ideas from people about what would make a good song and video and Alan had mentioned the next big debate would be the budget. The light bulb in my head started to go off because earlier that day in the car me and Paradise were having a conversation about how these multimillionaires and billionaires were suckering these Tea Party people to side with them on policies that makes them richer and the average American citizens (including Tea Party members) poorer. I had just gotten a new beat from super producer Cynik Lethal, who produced my two biggest videos to date, ” What if the Tea Party was Black ” and ” Republican Woman ” so when I got back to Pittsburgh I started working on it.

Fast Forward to Friday and we’re driving to Wisconsin with a brand new song about the plight of the American Worker towards this huge rally of ordinary working class Americans who have decided to stand up against a Republican Governor bought and paid for by billionaires. When we arrived in Madison, which is about a hour from Platteville, the rally was in full effect. I noticed right away how happy and friendly people were. This wasn’t an angry rally filled with vitriol like Tea Party protests, people we’re in really good spirits, proud to be in a place where they could express themselves freely. The second thing I noticed was how many children were there. Because so many teachers came to protect there rights to collective bargaining the schools basically closed down, but many parents decided to give their children a much needed political education. Better than any field trip they could go on, they were with their parents learning how to effectively stand up for their rights as Americans.

After circling the capital and getting footage, I noticed people were going inside so I suggested to Paradise that we go take a look. Believe me, I had NO idea that people were packed inside the capital from top to bottom! It was like nothing I had ever seen. People were dancing, singing, holding up signs, and expressing their freedom in any way they could think of. It was truly inspiring! After capturing this historic footage we headed towards Platteville to prepare for the keynote the next day.

Once again, as luck would have it, the keynote was at 11:30am. That gave us plenty of time to handle the business there then head back to Madison. We had heard the Tea Party was going to show up to support Governor Scott Walker, after an entire week of tens of thousands of protesters calling for his resignation. So after enjoying a wonderful reception from the students at Wisconsin-Platteville, we hit the road for day two of our video shoot. But whoever said the Tea Party was supposed to rally for Walker must have forgot to tell the Tea Party because it was only about fifty of them there. Their counter rally was so small and pathetic, I almost felt sorry for them…almost. Maybe they finally got the message and don’t want to be used as tools for the rich against fellow workers.

On the other hand, when we turned the corner and saw the pro union rally, it was a powerful show of strength and unity of up to 70,000. Back in Pittsburgh I still can hardly believe how fate put us in Wisconsin to witness history and hopefully use our talents and gifts to inspire and support hard working Americans from all over the country. Our video “American Workers vs Multi-Billionaires” is coming very soon.

Follow Us

Sign up for email updates

Why take the pledge?

Far too many Black youth continue to be demonized, criminalized and murdered.

Enough is enough!

In response to this intensifying crisis, the Black Youth Project (BYP) has launched “The Pledge.”

With “The Pledge,” we are asking individuals and organizations to close ranks around black youth and make a commitment to take action and fight with black youth as they confront a relentless crisis. We at the BYP believe that each person can make a difference by doing something!

By taking The Pledge we not only articulate our concern about black youth, but symbolically unite our voices with others who will work to confront this crisis.

If we each take action, whether it is starting a group, signing a petition, or mentoring a young person in your neighborhood, then we all become a part of the solution.